When Nino finds out
by Lil em 04
Summary: What would happen when Nino gets caught with the identity of a miraculous hero? Miraculous Ladybug fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

Hey y'all this is my first EVER fanfic that is online, please read! Hope you like it :)

Also I'm debating whether or not I should write a second chapter, so please comment on what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own miraculous ladybug I'm just a huge fan with a big passion for writing!

I didn't mean to see her transform. I was just looking out for my friend. I was confused as to why she rushed into the locker room rather than running home. So, I chased after her to make sure that she got to safety. That's when I poked my head through the door to see Marinette talking to a weird flying...thing. Then I heard the words.

"Tikki, spots on!" And with a blinding flash of light, there stood ladybug. She stood still for no more than a second when she swung her yoyo and flew out the window. I didn't know what to do. So I just stood there in shock. I didn't see the giant hand come to rap around me until it was too late.

•••••••••••••••••••••

Punching was useless. Kicking did nothing. My ribs were throbbing my arms were aching, I felt so defeated. It was then, that ladybug and cat noir showed up. The villain, a student who had been teased about being too tall was now a giant. He laughed at the heros.

"Give me you miraculous!" He began. "Or this one goes" I felt my heart stop, my breath caught in my throat. I gulped. This was serious.

"Nino" I heard ladybug murmur. It was weird that I knew she was Marinette, and that I was relying on my friend to save my life.

"Release him!" Cat noir yelled. I could sense the fear in his voice. The giant shrugged, causing me to have a nauseous feeling in my gut.

"Ok" his deep voice rumbled. His tight grip was suddenly gone, and I was falling, plummeting towards the concrete. I heard myself whimper before I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the impact.

It never came.

Instead I felt strong arms around me, clutching me I breathed an extremely shaky sigh of relief. I opened my eyes to see ladybug looking down at me cautiously. Her face was all too familiar.

"Are you Ok?" She asked, obviously concerned.

"I-I think so, just, traumatized." I shook my head as if it would make the emotions go away.

"I understand" she said, the caring Marinette seeping through the mask. "But you can always count on cat noir and I. Civilians are our first priority"

"What about you when you are a civilian?" I asked

"What do you mean?"

"When you are Marinette" she froze. She stared me down with a look I couldn't read.

"A little help here!" Cat noir yelled as he narrowly avoided another swing of the giants wrist.

"We are having a long talk when I'm done!" Ladybug warned. I nodded as she ran in to help cat noir. I scurried into a classroom but kept watching the battle through the window. It didn't seem to be going as well as the others. Cat noir was out of energy, ladybug was out of plans and the giant was stronger than any other Akuma they had faced. Cat noir called on his cataclysm, but momentarily let down his guard. The giant grabbed him and forced his hand against a stray chair, demolishing it instantly. He then brought the fighting hero up to his face. He easily pulled the ring off and as cat noir yelled and ladybug failed trying to reach him, the giant threw a detransforming cat noir towards the wall of the classroom I was in. Without thinking I ran out, knowing that I couldn't catch him, but at least soften the fall. I positioned myself in front of the wall arms spread wide, anticipating the hit. And as it came I dropped to the floor, his body leaning on mine like a safety mat. I let out a small groan, and without even looking at his identity, carried him into the classroom. This guys was light as a feather. I has no time to think about that he was hurt and that was my first priority. I knew I wasn't supposed to see his identity, but it was the only thing I could do. I looked him dead in the eye and gasped loudly.

"Dude!" I exclaimed. "Dude, you're, you're - " he groaned, clutching his ankle. "Oh right, yes" I ran to a cupboard and rummaged in it until I found the medical set. I grabbed the bandages and some pain killers. I handed a capsule to Adrien and he swallowed it easily without any water. I brought the bandage to his ankle, and began wrapping it the same way my mum had taught me when I was younger. I noticed him not even watching, just staring at the wall, his breathing shaky. Once I had finished I looked up to see his face streaked with tears.

"Hey dude..." I began, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Does it really hurt that much?" He turned to look at me and shook his head. It looked like he was debating whether to let out the truth or not. "You can tell me" I encouraged softly. He rubbed the back of his neck in such an Adrien way it made me want to hug him.

"I feel so, so useless. In every battle ladybug is the one who saves the day. And today, I just became a burden." He wiped his eyes and his head drooped. I shuffled myself so that I was sitting next to him, and wrapped my arm around his far shoulder.

"Valentines day." I began. "Dark Cupid. Who took the arrow for ladybug? Evillustrator. Who saved Marinette? Syren. Who caught ladybug when she got thrown out of the water? Time breaker. Who threw himself in front of ladybug so she wouldn't get zapped? Who did it Adrien?"

"I dunno" he said stubbornly. I glared at him. "Fine, me" I squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.

"So who isn't useless?"

"Me" he murmured. I moved my head so I could stare directly into his eyes.

"You're my best friend. You are NOT NOT NOT useless!"

I could have sworn I saw a smile begin to form at the edge of his mouth. Suddenly we were interrupted by a blinding swarm of ...ladybugs?

"She did it" gasped Adrien in shock "she defeated the Akuma". We heard a knock on the door. I went to answer it, and as I opened it an inch and a hand shot through. It was red and spotted, and held a silver ring. I picked up the ring and ladybug left us. I walked bad over to Adrien.

"Merry Christmas" I told him, holding out his most treasured possession. His eyes lit up and he grabbed the item from my hand. Sliding it onto his finger, a flying thing similar to the one I has seen with Marinette earlier emerged. "Adrien!" It yelled in a high pitched crackly voice.

"Nino" Adrien began. "This is Plagg. He's a kwami. He gives me my powers."

"Nice to meet you dude!"

"Yes...dude. Do you have any cheese?"

"Um no. Listen guys, I gotta get going, I will see you at school tomorrow and it you want to talk...I'm always here" I winked as I ran out the door.

"See you Nino!" Adrien called after me


	2. Chapter 2

Ok so this was going to be a one shot but I think I'm just going to keep going until it feels right to stop. Thanks all who commented!

Disclaimer: I don't own miraculous ladybug I'm just a big fan with a passion for writing!

Nino's POV

As I approached the girl, I could feel the nervous energy flowing through me. She hadn't noticed me yet, as she was talking to the red flying kwami thing. I inhaled deeply as her eyes locked with mine. And then I was there, standing in front of my friend Marinette. Who also happened to be ladybug.

"Hey dude..." I said awkwardly. Her normal bubbly personality had turned serious

"Yes" she began. "Look, please don't be mad, I couldn't tell you because I didn't want to put you in danger and now this is all my fault and..." I cut her off

"Look" I said "I don't care whose fault it is, but the fact is, I know and there's no going back. So, I figured I could help you" I didn't realize what I was saying until the words slipped out of my mouth.

"How so?" She asked quizzically.

"Well no fighting stuff - unless you want me too - no I was thinking more the getting out of class stuff, maybe emotional support, giving you my notes here and there, I could probab-" I stopped as she flung herself onto me, squeezing me into a bear hug.

"You're such a good friend Nino" she whispered.

"And you're such a good ladybug!" I replied. Marinette laughed.

"I'm glad you think that" she said. She pulled back suddenly. "Nino I need you too promise - "

I know I know I promise not to tell!" I said taking the words right out of her mouth. She smiled thankfully.

A small ringing sound came from her purse. She pulled out her phone and gasped.

"Who is it?" I asked

"Uhhh I forgot, my parents needed me to help in the bakery, gotta run Nino!"

"Bye!" I called out after her. She was almost at the door when she stopped suddenly.

"Is cat noir Ok?" She asked

"Better than ever" I told her, trying to hide my fear. She saw right through me. We both knew it was a lie but Marinette had no time to argue. With a wave, she ran out the door and out of sight.

I was about to begin walking home myself when a noise behind me caught my attention.

I turned around to see Adrien walking through the school. He saw me and waved.

"You're still here?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yeah I was just talking to Marinette" I told him

"Marinette? Wait why was Marinette here?" Shoot. Did I just say Marinette. No, I couldn't have. I did didn't I.

"Yeah she was just looking for us..." I lied. I am the worlds worst liar. However, Adrien didn't seem to have noticed.

"Oh Ok!" He said "that was nice of her. See you Nino!"

"Bye dude! See you at school" and with that he was gone.

Marinette's POV

"Why couldn't my eyes have been closed?" I asked tikki.

"Because you were halfway through a battle" the small kwami offered

"But now, my brain is seriously messed up! I've been fighting, patrolling, saving Paris with who? With my CRUSH!" My mind wandered back to the exact moment it happened, now burned into my memory forever.

 _I flung my yoyo at the monster but it just bounced off him. I yelled helplessly as the monster took the ring off cat noir and threw him into the classroom wall. I stood there in shock as Nino saved him from serious injury. I stared for a second longer, possibly the biggest mistake of my life. I caught a glimpse of the green eyes and blonde hair and felt my throat tighten._

Adrien. Adrien. Cat noir. Adrien.

"Tikki!" I moaned for the 100th time this hour. "What am I going to do? Should I tell him that I know who he is, should I pretend I don't, should I reveal myself to him, should I -"

"Definitely NOT the last one. You know the rules Marinette!" Tikki scolded. I frowned.

"But technically cat noir broke the rules so..." Tikki shook her head.

"Absolutely not! Its forbidden!" She shouted angrily. "Marinette I think its time you got some sleep" tikki advised. I looked at the clock and saw it was 10:00. The kwami did have a point. I lay my head on the pillow and turned off the light.

"Good night tikki" I murmured sleepily

"Night Marinette" the small voice replied

I drifted off too sleep, thoughts of Adrien filling my imagination.

Nino's POV

I sat in class worriedly. Neither of them were here yet. That didn't surprise me, they were both always late, but for some reason, my mind wandered to the worst possible scenarios. Shanking off my thoughts I ran through my plan once again. As soon as class was over I would pull Adrien away from the crowd. I would tell him that I was so glad he was cat noir and try to boost up his spirits. Then, once he was gone, I would catch up to Marinette, and -

"Hello? Earth to Nino?" I turned around to see Alya tapping my shoulder.

"Um yes?" I said

"Your doing that concentrating face again. The one where your tongue goes out a little and you frown and tap your fingers on the table." Stupid concentrating face! She was on to me now. "What were you thinking about?" She interrogated.

"School. The assignment, I've procrastinated and now I've gotta stay up until midnight to finish it" I said, making up an excuse.

"If I weren't your girlfriend I may have fallen for that. But I know, that Nino NEVER procrastinates" oops. "Why did you lie to me?" She asked. I could see that I had hurt her, but I had promised not to tell.

"Look Alya, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you, I know that you would do the same if you were in this position, but I promised not to tell" she stared at me blankly. Then she smiled

"You could have just said that, I get it, but you don't have to lie Nino" she explained.

"I'm sorry I lied" I said softly

"Consider yourself forgiven" she replied. "Also where are Marinette and Adrien? Are they always this late?" I shook my head agreeing with her.

"I have no idea. They better get here soon or they will miss most of the lesson!" I said. As if on cue Marinette burst through the door, a long skinny box in her arms.

"Sorry I'm late miss!" She gasped. As she ran to her seat, she slipped the box next to me. It had a note on it.

Dear Nino,

Thanks for being amazing. I would like you to give these to Cat noir from me, to check that he is Ok. You can have some if you want! Thank you!

I smiled to myself, sliding the box into my bag. This would be sure to up cat noir's spirits. However it meant I had to reorder my plan, so that the two wouldn't become suspicious.

The door creaked open and Adrien trudged through. He looked as though he hasn't slept or eaten. As he slumped into his chair next to me he rested his head on the desk.

"Hey" I nudged him "what's up?" He let out a long sigh. His eyes met mine and I saw that they weren't just tired. The were wet and red and puffy. "Hey, hey man" I said putting my arm around him "please tell me about it, no one is allowed to make my bro look like this" I looked at miss Bustier and shot my hand up. "Miss, can Adrien and I please go to the toilet?" I asked. If it had been any other teacher I know it would have been an automatic 'no', but miss Bustier had seem Adrien's face as he walked in. She nodded, and as I passed her, she whispered "take as much time as you need". I smiled thankfully at her as we exited the classroom.

We found a bench just outside the bathrooms so we sat down there.

"So..." I began, trying to prompt him to speak. He pushed his head into his palms.

"It's my father" he said, in a barley audible voice. "It happened this morning. I was about to go to school when he called me over" I could tell he was choking back tears. "He gave me a...lecture about how bad I am, listing all the times I failed him, how I'm never enough" the tears were streaming now, his chest heaving. "And he ended by telling me that if I didn't get better, he was pulling me out of school" I was lost for words. Literally, I didn't know what to say. I was so mad at Gabriel, how could he be so horrible to his own son? Figuring that words wouldn't be helpful, I went to actions instead. I has luckily brought my bag with me, so I pulled out a long skinny box. I handed it to Adrien.

"This is for you" I said softly "from ladybug" he jerked his head up and took the box. He opened it to find another note.

"Hi kitty" he began, reading out loud. "I know our last Akuma was a tough one. But you were amazing. I couldn't have done it without you. I know that you are beating yourself up about loosing your miraculous, but don't. You're the best partner I could ever ask for. From ladybug" I almost laughed when I saw the blush creep over his cheeks. We peeked into the box and gasped. It was such a Marinette gift!

Black macrons were filled with green creme, an emerald paw print drawn on the top of each one.

"They're beautiful" Adrien whispered. He picked one up gently and after examining it thoroughly, he took a bite. "They taste really good" he said, the pink on his cheeks shining. I couldn't help myself.

"May I?" I asked. Adrien chuckled and handed me the box. As I shoved the whole macron into my mouth, I was overwhelmed with a flavor explosion. The black was licorice, and the creme was green tea flavor.

"I feel better already!" Adrien joked, however I could hear the hint of true joy that slipped in.

"Hey Alya and I were going to hang out this afternoon, did you want to join us, if your father would let you?"

"Oh he would! He would love an afternoon without me in the house. And I would love to go Nino!" I could hear the anger in his voice, but also the gratitude.

"Sounds good dude! I can invite Marinette too if you want" I told him. He nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes please"

"Consider it done. Did you want to..." I trailed off

"Yeah, we can go back now" he said. "And thanks. You know just what I need Nino. You're a great friend!" I felt so honored to hear him say that. I smiled at him

"Right back at you"


	3. Chapter 3

**And here is chapter 3, it is a bit longer than the previous chapters, but I got a bit carried away :). Thanks for all who commented, I'm really thankful for the constructive criticism, I will try my hardest to take that advice! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug, I'm just a huge fan with a big passion for writing**

Alya's POV

I knew that Nino and Adrien were friends, but something was up. First Nino put on his thinking face, and then lied to me, before telling me it was private. Then Adrien came in looking like a total mess, and they both vanished in an instant. And now, Nino turned our date into a social gathering.

I didn't want to be mad, but I was getting the feeling that Nino was hinting at something. I pushed the thoughts out of my mind. I was just being a drama queen. So, as I walked next to Marinette, behind Nino and Adrien, I listened intently to my best friends blabbering.

"And then I cut the fabric but I cut it wrong and I had to unpick the entire sleeve because I had sewn it at a weird angle and it was a total disaster!" She looked at me and I laughed, but I had hesitated, and she knew it. "Are you good?" She asked.

"Yeah, just tired." I said, making up an excuse on the spot. I yawned for extra effect.

"Haha, of course you are!" Marinette laughed. Phew, she had bought my lame excuse.

Marinette's POV

I did not buy Alya's lame excuse. Not for one second. But, if she didn't want to talk about it, she didn't have to, and I knew there was no way of me convincing her to. So I let it slide and moved on.

"So, how are things with you and Nino going?" I asked curiously. I pretended not to notice when she clenched her jaw and inhaled sharply.

"Fine." she replied. The single word was full of so many emotions. She was hurt, surprised, jealous, torn, but most distinctly, she was confused. If we weren't right behind the two guys, I would have talked it through with her. But the risk of them overhearing was one I was not willing to take.

We arrived at Nino's house, and raided the pantry for snacks. We played on the Xbox, watched movies and mocked our teachers. When it began to get dark, we convinced our parents to let us sleepover. Alya and I were in the lounge room, and they boys were in Nino's bedroom. I could tell this would be a sleepless night full of deep conversations, just by the looks that Alya was giving me. So, when we finished watching the 3rd movie of the day at 10:00 pm, we decided that it was probably time for bed. And by bed, I mean lying down, not the sleeping part.

I was already in bed when Alya finished brushing her teeth. She plonked down and lay her head on the Ladybug print cushion her parents had dropped off. We both stared at each other when I decided to break the ice.

"You want to tell me what's up with you and Nino?" I asked her. She shuffled in her air bed, obviously uncomfortable.

"Its nothing." She said.

"Liar!"

"Fine, I'll tell you. But not a word to Nino." She warned. Finally we were getting somewhere.

"I promise!"

Nino's POV

"Is it bad the way he is treating me? Like, I get that it is bad but is it really **bad** bad?" He asked nervously.

"Yeah its bad bad, look at how its changed you!" I said gently. "Look," I began. "I think you should tell someone about this. Not just the feeling useless stuff, the fact that this model diet is wrecking you!" As I said it, Adrien's words echoed in my head.

 _"He wants me to be skinnier, so I eat 3 meals a day, breakfast is a protein shake, lunch is a salad, and dinner...it always changes. If I told him I has snacks toady, he would have been super mad! The thing is, I'm really underweight, and I'm always tired and out of energy. I told him that and he said it was just my imagination. But I don't think my imagination can be this close to reality."_

"I did!" Said the blonde. "I told you!" I shook my head.

"Dude, you know that's not what I mean. I don't know what to say all the time, and I'm not always around. What about Marinette, or Alya, or-"

"Ladybug!" He exclaimed loudly.

"Shhh! You'll wake my parents!" I whisper screamed. "But yeah. Tell Ladybug. I know that she will be able to listen and help." As his eyes opened wide I knew I had said to much.

"How do you know?!"

"I, um, just expect that someone as nice as Ladybug would be a good listener." I stammered.

"Liar! I can see right through you Nino! Tell me the truth." He pleaded, glaring at me slightly. I let out a long sigh.

"Fine, okay, okay, so I saw who Ladybug was just before the battle, so I know her identity! And no, I am not telling you!" I told him.

"Hmph. Fine. But can we change the topic now?" I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever!"

Marinette's POV

We both heard Adrien yell "Ladybug!", so immediately Alya was interested.

"Let's go listen to their conversation!" She whispered excitedly. I nodded, wanting to hear what the boys thought about me when I was under the mask. However, when we got there, they had changed the subject. To a much better one.

"On a scale of one to 10, how much do you love Alya?" We heard Adrien ask. Alya had to clamp her hand over my mouth to stop me from blowing our cover by laughing.

"Dude, 11!" It took every ounce of energy to hold in my laughing explosion when I saw the color of Alya's blushed cheeks. I gave her the 'I told you so' look which made her cheeks go even brighter. It took us about 10 seconds to calm down, and when we did, the boys were going deeper and deeper.

"What about you?" Nino asked. "This mystery girl who you won't tell me the name off?"

"Well," Adrien began. I could picture him rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "The reason I didn't tell you is because it wasn't a mystery girl. It was two. But now, I figured one was kinda a celebrity crush, and I think I've fallen for the second girl."

"Ooh, tell me tell me tell me!" Said Nino, who was almost as excited as Alya and I.

"Ok, but no telling!" Said Adrien seriously. "Its...Marinette."

I literally yelped and shot towards the door frame, but Alya pulled me back. Unfortunately she pulled to hard and we both fell over with a crash. Not loud enough too wake Nino's parents, but definitely loud enough to startle the boys.

"What was that?" We heard Nino ask.

"Come on!" I whispered to Alya as we picked ourselves up to make a run for it. We were up on our feet in no time, but in the same amount of time the boys were peeking out the door staring at us. They both looked shocked. Adrien's cheeks went bright red, and he rushed back into the room, obviously upset. I internally punched myself for being so stupid. Nino just stood there giving us the "I'm disappointed" face. Finally he broke the silence.

"Not cool dudes!" He said, then followed Adrien.

"Oh what have is done what have I done?" I whimpered to Alya.

"Go talk to him!" She said, loud enough for the boys to hear. "Tell his that you like him back!"

"Alya!" I cried. I knew the boys had heard, heck the whole neighborhood had heard.

"You'll thank me later!" She said. I was so mad I didn't know what to do. Alya was supposed to be my friend, and now this?

"Not cool!" I said, feeling that quoting Nino would get the message through. And with that I stormed out and locked myself in the bathroom.

Nino's POV

I was so mad at the girls for making Adrien feel like this. I was giving him encouraging words when we heard Alya yelling at Marinette.

"Go talk to him!" We heard her say.

"No no no don't do that." Adrien mumbled

"Tell him that you like him back!" Adrien jerked his head up at this. The poor dude was at his limit. We barley cared about what happened after, I was more concentrated on calming Adrien down. He was breathing rapidly, short sharp breaths.

"Dude, its Ok, I'm here, don't worry, just slow your breathing." I said, trying to calm him down. I did not want him hyperventilating.

"Its just too much," He spluttered. "All too much."

"Dude, I need you to slow you breathing!" I said, letting urgency lace my words. I squeezed his hand which for some reason seemed to help. I don't know how long we were on the floor for, but gradually Adrien seemed to calm down. I brought some pillows over, and Adrien hugged one tightly to his chest. I didn't care that it was being soaked in tears, all I cared about was Adrien.

"Feeling any better?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Not really. I don't know how I will be able to even look at her without breaking down." He said. His sobs had now turned into small hiccups.

"I'm sure it will all work itself out." I said comfortingly. He nodded half heartedly. "Hey, how about we get some sleep!" Without a word he made his way to his bed, as did I. It was only minutes later that he was sound asleep, snoring away. I checked my clock. 12:03. I quietly made my way out of the room and down the stairs to the girls area. Alya was lying on her bed, eyes open staring at her phone. She noticed me and gave me a nod. I looked around and saw no Marinette.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"In the bathroom," Replied Alya, obviously annoyed. "She wouldn't come out, so I gave up trying. She's been in there for over an hour now." I didn't bother saying bye to Alya, I went straight to my bedroom and rummaged for a key in one of my draws. Careful not to wake Adrien, I exited the room and praying that Marinette was presentable, unlocked the door of the bathroom. At first I saw no Marinette. Then, I moved in and saw she was in the bathtub. Asleep. In the bathtub. She was using towels as blankets, and her hands were above her head acting as a pillow. I couldn't leave her like this.

I scooped her up as gently as I could and carried her too my room. Adrien and I couldn't decide who got the bed, so we both slept on air beds on the floor. This left the proper bed free for a sleeping Marinette. I lay Marinette on the bed and she stirred.

"Shhh." I whispered. Its Ok go back to sleep." She rolled onto her side and continued snoring softly. I smiled to myself. Were all my friends snorers? I saw it was 12:15 and decided to get some sleep myself. My head hit the pillow and all if a sudden I was taken into a world of dreams.

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"Nino, Nino wake up!" As I opened my eyes I was blinded by the sunlight flooding through my window.

"What time is it?" I asked Adrien still half asleep.

"8 o'clock." he said. I shot up.

"Dude schools in - "

"Dude it's Saturday! No school!" I breathed a sigh of relief. "But, um, Marinette snuck into our room and is asleep on your bed!" I yawned and smiled at the same time.

"Dude I brought her in." I told a very confused Adrien. "She was sleeping in the bathtub!"

"Oh," Adrien said softly. "Okay then, I guess that's fine then. Um, I'm not ready to have breakfast with the girls yet." He said, obviously embarrassed. I felt so sorry for the guy.

"Hey, dude that's okay. We can have it in here if you want?" I offered. He nodded.

"Yes please, thanks Nino!"

"All good dude. I'll go get the bowls and cereal." I said making my way down to the kitchen.

Adrien's POV

I looked nervously at the bluenette sleeping in Nino's bed. She lay on top of the blanket on her back, her facial expression - anything but peaceful. She wore a loose pastel pink shirt with a love heart, and black and white striped shorts. She looked kinda cute.

I was instantly overwhelmed with emotions so I moved back to my bed and lay down. This whole thing was so messed up, and I didn't know what to make of it. I was distracted of my thoughts as Nino brought in the breakfast kit. As I saw the wide range of cereals, I knew my stomach would be satisfied. I wasn't supposed to eat them, but I was going to, because I knew that my father was wrong! I pushed down all the anger, and grabbed a bowl and the pack of cornflakes. We poured our cereal in at the same time, making a large pinging noise. I froze as Marinette stirred and murmured to herself "Where am I?" I scooted back to the corner of the room as Nino gave me the "I'll deal with it" look.

"Hey Mari," Nino said soothing.

"Where am I? Is Adrien okay, where did Alya go?" She spluttered.

"Wow wow wow questions later, you're in my room on my bed. You had fallen asleep in the bath, so I brought you here. But, I need you to go back to Alya now." Nino explained. She seemed fine, until he mentioned Alya.

"No, no, no, I'm not doing that!" She said, getting up and running to the other side of the room.

"Come on Mari," Nino urged, beginning to get frustrated "You need to go down to Alya!"

"No I don't!" Marinette yelled. "I won't!"

"This isn't about you Marinette! This is about Adrien, who doesn't want to be around you anymore!"

You know how they say people explode when they are angry. Well, right now, we had just seen Nino explode, and it was contagious.

"What?" I shouted, emerging from my corner. "I never said that!"

"If I had gotten the chance to talk I would have but when I was going to, Alya ruined everything!" Screamed Marinette.

"For heaven's sake Marinette this is not about you! Not everything is about you!" Yelled Nino.

"Hey Nino that's not fair to say, she's just been hurt by her best-" I didn't even bother finishing, they were already exploding at each other.

"I'm not making everything about me I'm explaining myself! And if you has any respect, you would understand that and give me a chance!"

"I'm sorry respect? Respect has to be earned! And by the way you acted last night, I don't think you have earned any respect!"

I was so done with this. I ran out the door without either of the two noticing and rushed downstairs. I found Alya watching the news on the TV, so I sat down next to her. I could still hear the two loud and clear, and so could Alya. Without a word,she put her arm around me, just like Nino had done on many occasions.

"I'm such a horrible friend," She mumbled. "I just...lost it, I guess." I rested my head on her shoulder.

"You did a dumb thing," I told her. "But everyone does dumb things. Can you hear those two? But I know Marinette will forgive you. Eventually." I felt myself blushing, and tears stung my eyes, but Alya didn't care.

"Thanks bro," she said. She paused for a while, then began an explanation. "Last night, I heard you yell out "Ladybug", so of course I was interested. It was my idea to go listen to you guys, and I convinced Marinette to follow. Then when we got there, you guys were talking about something else. Marinette got so overexcited that she blew our cover, but then I got overexcited and blew our friendship. She doesn't want to be anywhere near me any more, you heard her." she said sadly. We were silent as Marinette and Nino's squabble continued.

"You hurt my best friend, and I'm not Ok with that!" Nino said, sounding exasperated.

"Well you hurt my best friend without even realizing it!" Marinette threw back. Alya's eyes opened wide. I could tell just by the look on Alya's face that Marinette has just blabbed a secret. I put my arm around her.

"Tell me about it." I told her encouragingly. She shook her head.

"You're his best friend." she said sadly.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked. She obviously couldn't come up with an answer.

"Fine," She said. "It all stared this morning..."

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Alya's POV

I don't know why I decided to tell Adrien. It just felt right, I guess. I don't know how, it just did. As I blurted out my side of the story, his green eyes stared at me intently, soaking in every detail. When I was done, it was obvious that it was his turn to start talking.

"Its not his fault Alya." he said. I must have put in my shocked face, because he continued to explain."I dragged him into this. My Dad is...well, he's my Dad. I needed someone to talk to so I told Nino. Its been getting worse so he invited me over. I didn't know that originally it's was a date, I'm really sorry for intruding." I was stunned. I definitely had not seen this coming.

"I guess it was just a...misunderstanding." I said. Adrien smiled.

"You guessed right," He said. "Do you want to crash their party?" He asked

"Party?" I asked raising my eyebrow. "Not the word I would have used, but sure!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is chapter 4, once again thank you everyone for reading, and I'm really thankful for all the comments I get. Sorry if it feels like I rushed the ending! Also there will probably be one or two more chapters after this. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug**

(Still Alya's POV)

"You still think this is a party?" I asked Adrien mockingly.

"Alright let's fix this mess." He said, a side of Adrien I had never seen before begin to peek through. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted loudly.

"SHUT UP!" The two stopped their arguing and turned to face us. Marinette's eyes opened wide, a look of terror crossing her face. She launched herself into Nino's bed, and buried herself in the covers. Adrien and I exchanged a glance, and as he headed towards Marinette, I went for Nino. The guy was rubbing his forehead anxiously, obviously stressed out. I stared him in the eye as we both subconsciously walked downstairs, into the lounge room.

"Spill." I ordered.

Adrien's POV

Awkward was an understatement for how I was feeling as I approached the girl. As I sat on the side of the bed, I realized that she was crying. I felt a pang of guilt in my chest. However, I didn't know if it was guilt, or something else. I couldn't put my finger on it. I gently pulled down the blanket to reveal Marinette, curled in a ball facing away from me. He hair was a mess and her cheeks were lined with fresh tears. She was still in her pajamas. So was I, I realized with embarrassment. I still wore my purple trademark Agreste T-shirt, and my Ladybug print shorts. But, I knew there was no turning back now. I brought my thoughts back to the problem at hand. Her sobbing hadn't stopped, if anything it had gotten worse. What would Nino do? I asked myself. What did he do for me? He... He squeezed my hand! That helped a lot! I let my hand fall slowly towards Marinette's. Then I let my palm touch hers. Her skin was soft. The feeling lasted no more than a millisecond, when she jerked her hand back abruptly. She grabbed the blanket and pulled it back up, covering her once again. Great. I had really screwed up this time. I didn't know what to do. What else did Nino do? He...gave me a pillow. I found a square blue cushion on the floor, and pushed it under the blankets. At first I though it had worked. But then it flew out and across the room. Why did these work for Nino but not me? " _Well duh, this is Marinette we are talking about_!" I mentally told myself. Nino's tactics were not going to work. I needed an original technique. What did Marinette like to do? Sewing, baking...drawing! That's it! I ran to Nino's desk and fished out a piece of paper. I drew a stick figure with pigtails and titled it "Marinette". Then I drew an arrow pointing to her hands. I labeled the arrow "precise and careful". Then I drew two eyes and a mouth on the face. Arrow to the eyes: "bold mesmerizing bluebell eyes". One to the mouth: "smile that lights up the dark". And so I continued, pretending not to see Marinette peeking out of the blanket. When I was done, I pushed the paper, along with the pen under the blanket to Marinette. If this didn't work, I didn't know what would.

After 5 or so minutes, she passed the sheet back. I turned it over and read the sentence she had written.

"Adrien, I need you to leave me alone."

I felt my shoulders droop. I had been unsuccessful. But I needed to respect Marinette, and right now, that meant letting her go.

"Okay." I said aloud. Then I trudged down the stairs to find Alya and Nino talking it out with each other. Alya looked at me questioningly.

"She just wants to be left alone." I told them, unable to hide my disappointment.

"Let me go talk to her." Alya said getting up.

"I really don't think that's a good idea." I said, but she was already halfway up the stairs. Nino and I looked at each other knowing that there was no stopping Alya.

"This is going to end well." He said sarcastically. We kinda just sat there for two minutes. Then Marinette was running down the stairs, Alya on her tail. The bluenette ran out the door and through the streets, I guessed she was heading home.

"After everything I've done for her!" Alya grumbled under her breath. She went to follow Marinette, but I stood myself in front of the door.

"Move!" She yelled.

"Alya," I began sternly. "Marinette wants to be left alone. She needs some time!" Alya literally growled.

"She is being such a drama queen!" I didn't know if that was true or not, so I decided not to argue. It was silent, except for the news which was still playing in the background. A building was collapsing, and there were still people in it. I gave Nino a nod.

"I want to go buy some stuff from the shops, I will be right back!" I announced, running out the door. I got to a small alley and transformed. Then I headed towards the building.

Ladybug was already there. I realized that this was our first time together since the incident. Hawkmoth had been uncharacteristically quiet, which meant we hadn't had an Akuma in a while. I made my way over to the spotted hero.

"There are 3 more civilians in this room!" She said, pointing to a crumbling structure that may have once resembled a bedroom. "I'll get the adult, you grab the two kids." She instructed. I nodded, and launched myself at the two small bodies, barley noticeable in all the dust. One was a girl and one was a boy, they were both crying and struggling to breath through all the dust. I wrapped an arm around each of them, and extended my stick, which shot us out of the building and onto a nearby roof. I set the boy down, and hitched the girl into a piggyback position. I slid down the building with the girl, and set her gently back onto solid ground. I repeated this with the boy. Once they were both back to safety, I crouched down to their height.

"Are you Ok?" I asked them. They nodded.

"Where's Daddy?" The girl asked nervously. Ladybug dropped beside me, the father in her arms.

"Daddy!" The kids cheered, running up to the father. They had a group hug.

"I was so worried for you guys!" He told his children.

"I wasn't!" Said the boy. He held up what he had been clutching to his chest the whole time. It was a Cat Noir doll. "I knew that Cat Noir would save us!" He exclaimed

"What about Ladybug?" The girl argued. "She's the one who saved Daddy!" Suddenly I realized something was wrong.

"The mother." I whispered. The father heard me.

"Helen passed away 2 years ago." he said sadly. I felt so connected, but suddenly, a wave of anger was flooding through me. This family had the same tragedy as mine, yet it was a family of love and care, unlike my work, work, work family. I was about to leave when I felt something small wrap around me. I looked down and saw the boy.

"Thank you for saving us!" He said softly. I rubbed his hair.

"No problem!" I told him. "What's your name?"

"Jack."

"Well Jack, I hope you have a very good day. I guess I'll see you around!" He let go of me.

"Bye Cat Noir!" He said with a wave. I waved back, and made my way to the nearby roof. I sat on it, legs dangling from the edge. I didn't want to go back yet. With a flash, Ladybug was sitting next to me. A sense of insecurity hovered over me once again. I must have started getting jittery, because she put her gloved hand on mine. I turned to face her, and for the first time, I realized something was different. Her eyes were not usually this wet and swollen.

"M'lady, are you hurt?" I asked her, concerned.

"No, no its fine, I've just had long last few days." She explained hurriedly. She just didn't seem herself.

"Oh." I mouthed. "Well, thank you for the macrons. They were yummy." I said.

"You liked them?" She said. "Good!". She turned to me and looked me dead in the eye. "Cat noir I know your identity." She said, as if she had been holding that in for a very long time. I nodded.

"I thought that was the case. Claws in." I knew it probably wasn't smart to be dangling my legs over the side of the building without my superpowers, but I also knew that Ladybug would catch me if I fell. Suddenly I regretted turning into Adrien. Not because I was scared of falling. Because I was still in my pajamas! "Oh, well, this is embarrassing!" I thought out loud. Ladybug laughed

"I think its cute." She said kindly. "You know at home, I have a cat noir hoodie!" She giggled.

"No way! Where did you get it?" I asked. I needed one of those!

"I made it." She said as I gasped. A beep emerged from her earrings.

"See you later kitty!"

"Wait, you need to help me get down!" I told her.

"Why of course monsieur!" She mocked as she carried me to the floor, spinning her yoyo like a propeller. "Patrol tomorrow?"

"Of course." I answered. With a wave, we parted ways. I headed into a nearby store and grabbed a croissant. Munching it on the way back, I walked back into Nino's house. When I arrived, I saw Nino packing away Marinette's stuff. He looked up and noticed me.

"Hey dude." He said "Alya left because she had to babysit her sisters, so yeah, I'm just packing up Marinette's - "

"Ladybug knows who I am." I told him, cutting of his dialogue.

"Oh." He said simply. "Is that good or bad?" I shrugged.

"At this stage, I don't know. I'm just going to hope for the best." I answered.

"Ok." Said Nino. "Um, so, do you want to drop Marinette's bag off or - "

"Yes." The word came out of my mouth with no hesitation. Nino handed me the bag.

"Good luck dude!"

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I could feel my hands shaking as I stood outside the Dupain Cheng bakery. I took a deep breath, then opened the door. The small bell ringing gave a sense of warmth, as did the delicious smell of treats in the oven. I suddenly felt guilty about buying the croissant from the local grocery store. I didn't have time to think about that because Marinette's mum was rushing through the door. She saw me and her face lit up.

"Adrien dear!" She exclaimed. "Its great to see you again. What can I get for you today?" She asked excitedly. I was always amazed by the hospitality that the Dupain Cheng's showed.

"Actually, I just have this bag to give to Marinette." I told the woman. He eyes turned instantly serious.

"Oh thank you dear. She seemed very upset when she came home, but she said she was fine! I hope you can cheer her up a bit, she looks awful!" She pouted.

"I'll try my best!" I said weakly. She hurried me through the lounge room and showed me to the trapdoor to Marinette's room. I had been in here once before, when we were practicing for the gaming competition.

"Marinette!" Mrs Dupain Cheng called out.

"Yes Mama?" Came the reply.

"Your friend Adrien is here with your bag." Frantic scampering could be heard. What on earth was Marinette doing? "Should I send him up?"

"Uh, in a minute Mama!" She said hurriedly. More scampering, other weird noises and a short while later:

"Ok he can come in now!" Mrs Dupain Cheng winked at me as I slowly lifted the door. Marinette was sitting on her chair, knees pulled tightly to her chest. She looked so sad. I set the bag down and anxiously walked up to her. I stood behind the chair and rested my arms on her shoulders comfortably.

"I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt you." I told her. She tilted her head up to face me.

"Its not you Adrien." She said apprehensively. "I, I'm just really messed up at the moment."

"How so?" I asked, hoping I wasn't pushing to hard.

"There's just, lots of stuff going on, its all just a bit overwhelming." She muttered.

"That's okay," I said soothingly. "I hope I didn't just add to you problems." She let out a small laugh. "I did didn't I?" I asked, internally face palming.

"I always thought that having my feelings returned by you would best day ever. But then I ruined it. And Alya added salt to the wound." She said sadly.

"Mmm. It - " I stopped abruptly as my eyes fell on a black clothing item on one of the models. A Cat Noir hoodie. "Where did you get that?" I asked seriously. She froze.

"The, the... merchandize pop-up store on valentines day." She stammered. Something was up. Did Ladybug make a hoodie for Marinette too? Were they friends?

"That's odd," I told the girl. "Because I heard that Ladybug had a hoodie just like that. That she made. Would you mind if I saw the tag..."

"No!" She gasped.

"So you are friends with Ladybug!" I concluded excitedly.

"Uh...yes. That is true." Said Marinette, acting slightly confused.

"Does she talk about Cat Noir much? What does she say about him? Do you know her true identity?" I asked curiously.

"I'm not supposed to talked about it!" She explained. "So can we maybe change the topic now?"

"No! No I want to know more!" I said loudly.

"Adrien no I can't -" she began. I didn't hear the rest, because I was finally putting the pieces together. The macrons. The hoodie. They crying. How Nino knew. She was all right in front of me the whole time. My mouth was open wide in shock. I pointed at her dumbly.

"You're Ladybug." I exclaimed.

"What?" She gasped. No, no I'm not, silly!"

"Then say spots on." I replied confidently. She face palmed.

"Oh Kitty." And then she had thrown herself on me in a hug."I love you, you know that right?"

"Not as much as I love you." I replied.


	5. Chapter 5 (epilogue)

**And this story is done! I know that this ending isn't very good, I am generally not good at ending stories, but I felt like it needed wrapping up. I love all the comments, thank you so much for reading my story! I know that it isn't much compared to other fanfics that are out there, but writing is my passion, and thank you all who read this, you are really inspiring me to write more! Without further ado, here is the final part!**

Epilogue

 **Adrien's POV**

"I try to please him, I really do! But I'm never enough. He wants perfection, and expects nothing less." I told her, after a solid five minutes of blurting out my life story.

"I'm so sorry." She said. Marinette always knew what to say, and when to say it. And right now, Marinette was the shoulder I needed for so long, that I could cry on. And it felt good. I knew that I wasn't burdening her. I could tell that she was glad I was opening up. She held my hand tightly, squeezing it whenever she detected the slightest bit of anger, or fear, or sadness. But there was only one thing that I was feeling.

As cliché as it sound: love.

Love took over me. I instinctively moved my face closer to Marinette's. She squeezed my hand incredibly tight as she stared at me with her big blue eyes. I hesitated, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. She moved a loose hair of mine off my face. Her touch felt extremely pleasant. And then she was moving closer to me, and I was leaning in. She suddenly let go of my hand. She placed her hands on my cheeks. And then it happened. My lips touched her lips. And so it went. I put my arm around her waist, ignoring Plagg's sighs. Because nothing else in the world mattered. Only her. Only Marinette. My father's comments were forgotten. I let go of my constant dwelling on my mothers death. I didn't care about my model diet. Because Marinette was here. She was here now. And I felt safe. She would protect me. She would save me. She would be there whenever I needed her to. And I loved her for that. A loud crash interrupted us. We broke apart and turned to the source of the noise. I was shocked by what I saw.

Plagg and the Ladybug kwami were staring worriedly down at a phone they must have dropped. As I looked more closely, I realized it wasn't just any phone. It was my phone.

"Plagg!" I scolded.

"Bad Tikki!" Yelled Marinette. The two kwami's looked at us sheepishly. But I couldn't stay angry at them for long.

 **Marinette's POV**

I was mad at Tikki. But I was in a forgiving mood. During the kiss, I mentally forgave Alya, Nino, and even Adrien (not that he had done much wrong!). I knew that whatever happened, I was safe. Adrien, or Cat Noir, would never let anyone hurt me. I would never let anyone hurt him. I would organize another sleepover, this time one full of apologies. Full of friendship. Full of love.

Life was good.


End file.
